Singer Michelle Shocked sits in at canceled show

Alternative folk singer Michelle Shocked sits outside Moe’s Alley nightclub in Santa Cruz Calif., and strums her guitar on Thursday, March 28, 2013. After her show was canceled when she made an anti-gay slur earlier this month. Shocked had her face covered and her mouth taped shut. She dressed in a white disposable safety suit and invited people to write on it. (AP Photo

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — Her show had been cancelled, but that didn't stop alternative folk and rock singer Michelle Shocked from showing up at a Santa Cruz nightclub where she staged a sit-in with tape across her mouth that read "Silenced By Fear."

Moe's Alley was one of several nightclubs that cancelled Shocked's gigs after she made what were considered anti-gay comments during a rambling outburst at a show earlier this month.

On Thursday evening, Moe's Alley owner Bill Welch had replaced her with two local bands that support gay rights, Beaver Fever and Frootie Flavors.

"We will not be bashing Michelle Shocked," he said. "Rather, we will celebrate music, diversity and send some healing Santa Cruz energy her way."

Sitting on the ground outside the venue and strumming her guitar, Shocked was largely ignored and refused to speak. She pointed to a sign inviting people to pick up a Sharpie marker and write on the white disposable safety suit she was wearing.

Alternative folk singer Michelle Shocked sits outside Moe’s Alley nightclub in Santa Cruz Calif., and strums her guitar on Thursday, March 28, 2013. After her show was canceled when she made an anti-gay slur earlier this month. Shocked had her face covered and her mouth taped shut. She dressed in a white disposable safety suit and invited people to write on it. (AP Photo

Earlier this week in an email to The Associated Press and other media, Shocked apologized and said her comments during the San Francisco show were misinterpreted.

"Of course the fault for that is completely my own, and I cannot and do not blame anyone for defending the gay community," she wrote.

On Thursday night, she posted signs that read "Does speech scare you that much?" and on her back she had scrawled "Gimme Wit, Not Spit."